Caught in the Flames
Prologue Several days after the Redbeard Pirates invaded Outcast Island and publicly announced their fight against the , the crew continued on with their journey to find new members and allies. With three new additions, the crew has a total of seven members including their trusted "ship", a colossal beast of unimaginable proportions. With the new members adjusting to new lives at sea, another challenge awaits them in the days to come. As the crew went about their day, Kiyoshi who had been navigating alongside Daikame, rushed to Redbeard's headquarters in order to recite unexpected news. Passing each of the other members on the way to the captain, he expected them all to follow as thew news would peak everyone's interest. "Captain-desu!!" Kiyoshi exclaimed, rushing into the massive cathedral-like building with incredible speed. "I have pleasant news-desu. Daikame-desu stated that were nearing another island, I believe it's -desu. Redbeard, who had been experimenting with his newly acquired powers for the past few days, welcomed his companion with a jolly grin. "Wonderful, there should be other promising pirate crews there, maybe we could recruit some of them." Redbeard responded, thinking of ways to expand their military might. "Though, due to the island's location, we'll probably run into a fair share of Marines and other government officials." Staying silent as his captain pandered over the crew's next move, Kiyoshi turned around to see the remainder of the crew arrived. "And what the hell are we supposed to do with this big turtle?" asked Spike as he arrived at his captain's quarters, still groggy from sleeping. "You can't expect us to just "dock" at the City of Water, its not very low profile. The government will definitely be looking for us here." Feanor Low, the new Spy and Lookout of the Redbeards, had immediately grown fond of the Living Ship. Because his role entailed him, Feanor had made his home in the top of the Creature's back that allowed him to have a clear view of everything that happened in the surroundings. Occasionally, however, he would sit on the head of the Turtle, speaking in what happened to be grunts with the Giant's gigantic pet. He did like the weather around him, but the constant banter of the tiny Dwarf in the ship made him irritated now and then, almost to the point of wanting to slice him with his sword. When Kiyoshi shared his huge discovery, Low wasn't to be seen anywhere in or near the ship and only made his appearance after the commotion was dead, or seemed to. "I have discovered an suitable place underground in an sunken dock where he can halt Daikame, Barbarossa. Because of the way the the island as been sinking, we can surely find an abandoned canal to reach the main island. A certain someones may help us navigate the waters within the island without affecting the members of the Crew." Low reported, before leaving to reside to his spot. For him, he had done with job as a lookout and a spy, and given instructions based on his observations. He had no issues on whether the Pirate Crew paid any heed to his instructions or not, as he was just performing his part of the duties on board as lectured to him by his mentor. Sitting in a Large and plush Chair with a glass of wine clasped in one hand and a stack of papers in the other Marié gently hums to herself as she turns her eyes to the screen in front of her that shows the faces of three other people all whom had their faces concealed somehow. "You should All know, I have once again took up the mantel of Piracy this time not as a Captain but a Navigator for a Man known as Redbeard, I'm sure you three already know of whom I speak of ?" Questioned Marié as the three figures nod their heads in what appears as amusement. "He has promised to help protect my Kingdom as well as Ensure Blood line Doesn't go extinct, So from hence forth I want all available Information of the Yonko, Shichicukai, Revolutionary Army, Marines and all alike. You know I don't like surprises especially ones that are dangerous to my health". Ordered Marié as she took a sip of their wine before giving them a passive look "Oh and Keep and eye out for Gyoku, make sure she doesn't get her self killed." Stated Marié before the screen before went dark basking her in the shadows of the room. With the entrance of two of the remaining three tardy members, Redbeard gazed upwards noticing the absence of the Red Queen. Through his mind's eye, which was recently enhanced dramatically, the titan detected Marié discussing her new affairs through a visual den den mushi with several unknown figures. Pretty confident that she'd be arriving late, Redbeard continued on with the meeting. "I'm glad to see you're taking you're taking job seriously Low-san. And I see you're concern Spike. But there is no need for such drastic measures. Despite what you may think, Desu, Daikame, and I have been around for quite sometime, and when we want too, we can be quite stealthy." Redbeard exclaimed as Kiyoshi took the lead in the discussion. After taking a deep breath, a bright yellow aura surrounded the dwarf's body. Suddenly, the being no larger than the shoes worn by Spike, was the size of a human adolescent. "See-desu...With the power of my Daishō Daishō no Mi, I am able to completely manipulate the size of myself and others I touch-desu." "With this ability, Daikame, Marié, and I will be shrunk to an appropriate size and we will ride out on one of our backup ships." Redbeard said, trying to remain as pleasant as possible despite not particularly enjoying the idea of being shrunk due to the several repercussions. Spike jumped back at the sight of a larger Kiyoshi "What the-" said Spike. Despite there still being a size discrepancy between the two, a human size Kiyoshi freaked him out. After collecting himself, Spike turned to his captain and said: "This plan seems great and all and I definitely don't mind checking out Water 7, but remind me again what our goal is here. Though we are taking the necessary precautions and Water 7 is sort-of open to pirates, we don't really have the luxury of playing tourist." Seeing as whatever business she had was taken care of Marié decided to maker her way to where the rest of the crew was located, figuring that Redbeard already knew what she was up to she just casually walked towards the group and gently leaning against The Red Titan himself, "Sorry I' late I had some important business to attend to, I hope I haven't missed anything too important have I Darling ?" Questioned Marié with a sultry smile on her face. As everyone gathered around were amazed of Kiyoshi's newly acquired powers. Feanor just smirked thinking to himself, "He didn't inform me about that. Looking at the faces of the others gathered around, he eagerly waited for the Captains Orders. With the entrance of his new mistress, Redbeard was clear to discuss the crew's objective in their voyage to the water island. "With our sudden declaration of war against the World Government, we are still on the minds of people across the Grandline. Thus, we must cease the moment and utilize our infamy to attempt to recruit more members." Redbeard explained. While he was more than confident that his main crew's powers were indeed formidable, to reclaim his homeland, the power in numbers is important. "Outside of this, we should enjoy ourselves there. It's a rather beautiful island from what I heard, we should make the most of it." he stated, before sending the rest of the crew off to make preparations for their departure. Shortly after, Kiyoshi shrank Redbeard to about fourteen feet tall, Marie to around the same height, and Daikame along with all objects on top of him to the size of a large turtle. The remainder of the crew watched from a small ship that Redbeard had saved just for these missions. With all the preparations made, and the entire crew began their short trip to Water 7 with Redbeard chanting, "Onward! Next Stop, Water 7!!" Water Paradise The [[Magyaku|'God of the Deserts']] (砂瀑神, Sabakugami) was usually not a man to be in plain sight, yet Water 7 was the divergence. Pirates were allowed to be present as long as they did not cause any trouble and he was confident that he could keep himself under control. He sat at the bar and had been waiting for his lady friend to return from the restroom for three consecutive minutes now. As she returned, he managed a smile. When she sat down, he said nothing but only looked at her. The woman began to stare back but his gaze was too powerful, as it's been said that his gaze of lust was even stronger than that of his stare during the intention to kill. "What?" She blushed. His eyes stare into her and he began to speak. "I'd choose you over the one piece if I had the option." He lied. He'd used it twice before within a three month time-span between then and now. Using his Kenbunshoku Haki, he could determined that the woman wanted him as her color was that of golden. But he would not bed her tonight, he had a meeting with a man seeking to buy goods from Shinji and he could not miss it unless he was affected with the most urgent event. So he would do it now. He took her hand and walked out of the bar. ---- Leon Aux had recently arrived at Water-7, following an incident which had occurred three months previous to this. Leon had just finished a performance, and he had made quite the amount of Belly. Good enough. he thought to himself as he counted his spoils. Aux quickly hid the profits he had made in one of his hidden pockets, in order to conceal the money. He was on his way to the bar, a bar where he had another performance. As he made his way, he noticed quite the number of members of the revolutionary army scouting the area. Of course, they were dressed in casual clothing, but Leon was able to tell who they truly were by the pitch of their voices. What's going on here? he thought to himself as he continued on his path. As he approached a bar, he spotted a woman. A woman of pure beauty. She must have noticed Leon's looks, as she began to make his way over to her. "Hello." Leon said as the girl slapped him. "Perv." she stated, beginning to turn around. Leon quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her a bit closer. "That was rude." he said, mocking a sense of pain. "Then don't stare at me like that." she replied. "I couldn't help myself, you're rather beautiful." Leon answered, as she suddenly blushed. "P-Perv." "Am I the perv? At least I'm not holding on to you." Leon said, as the woman noticed that she was holding on to the man. She backed up. "S-sorry." she replied. But at this point, Leon's charm had won her over. Leon walked over to her and whispered something into her ear. As soon as Leon had finished, she smiled as she replied. "We can do it in the inn over there." Leon only grinned in response as she grabbed his hand and began to drag him to the inn. ---- "Did I ever tell you all about the time that I fought through an army of Fishmen Pirates!" a drunken young man announced near the top of his lungs as he climbed up onto a table, "Yes! You've already told us about this twice today!" another man, with green spikey hair replied. The drunken young man responded to this answer with his fist, knocking it on top of the mans head causing the latter to drop to the floor, out cold. "It doesn't matter! I'll tell you it again! It was a beautiful story anyway!" The drunken man said. It had been going on like this for a solid two days (according to the men he was drinking with) and Araika had personally had enough of this loud mouthed fool. The fool in question was a young looking man who was an orange haired lad with light blue eyes and a stylish looking outfit that made him look like a noble. Ironic for someone who acted like a buffoon. Apparently the man had walked in here two days ago and had paid for 20 bottles of Sake. It had taken him a whole day to fnish and with that came the noisiness the drunken tails and plenty of money for the owner of the bar. Probably why the man hadn't been kicked out yet. Araika didn't know how people had put up with it for two whole days, but he wasn't going to put up with it for another two minutes. The tall well defined man stood up abruptly, warranting a silence from many of the other drinkers and darts players. The drunken man, however, kept rambling on and on about the story that has been said over a dozen times the past few days. He eventaully stopped, when he realised that every was quiet, and looked at Araika. "Hi there!" The man said gleefully. "I'm just getting to the best part! You should sit down for it!" "No!" Araika thundered. "I am tired of your constant babbling and horrible stories! You have been talking non stop since I've enetered this bar, That was fourty minutes ago!" The man looked blankly at Araika as the latter continued. "How are you even still standing, you've drunken so much sake that you should be unconscious by now!" The man shrugged. "I don't know......but i'm still got room for more!" The man hopped off of the table and strode towards the bartender where he asked. "Another bottle of Sake please!" "Sure thing Loki," The bartender replied, "Don't you dare get him another bottle!" Araika shouted, drawing out a pistol and shooting into the air. "Oh dear," Loki replied as he turned around and looked at the man with his hands on his pocket. "You really shoudln't fire shots in a bar like this, especially since it's where people from the inn across the road come to!" ---- After about a day of travel, the odd island was insight. The crew would dock at the nearest port where they'd leave the temporary ship. Other ships nearby looked far more impressive than their own, but this did not concern Redbeard. "If you wish to join me let us go, if not, I will find you guys when needed." Redbeard stated, before leaping off the the ship with his new size. "Catch you guys later-desu." Kiyoshi stated, before jumping off the ship himself in order to follow the Captain. As the two made some distance, Kiyoshi quickly turned and screamed. "Make sure someone tries to wake up Sarutobi before we leave!" The large mink had been sleeping for several days now. Redbeard believes that it is due to his lack of rest during his time as a slave, but Kiyoshi is concerned. "Welp, I'm gonna go explore this place, maybe there's something fun somewhere." said Spike as he hopped off the ship and walked aimlessly into the grand city of water. Several marine ships had surrounded the aforementioned island as at least two dozen marines began to scour the island for the Giant Red-beard as well as his crew. Their sources had told them that they had been heading to this location, although they knew not their reasoning. On the deck of one of the marines ships stood the mighty Sun Wukong as he oversaw the the island as well as the proceedings of his marines. ---- Leon sighed as he laid in a bed, beside a female which he had met only recently. He turned his head over towards her, before slightly chuckling. I should get ready for my performance... he thought to himself as he stood from the bed, remaining quiet so his femal companion did not notice his absence. Leon began to clothe himself. Once he had adorned some clothing, he slung his violin case around his shoulder, heading to the bar situated in the exact same inn. As he walked up to the stage, many began to stare at his now unsheathed violin. I don't blame them. They've never seen anything like her... Leon thought to himself as he usually did. As he took a seat at the front stage, he smiled. "Hello! I'm your entertainment for the night! I'll be playing a ballad which I composed myself, Midnight Star. Hope you enjoy." he finished, and immediately after, he began to play. The sound of perfection rang throughout the bar, music which could make even the deadliest of creatures calm. Leon's music leaked out of the bar, and caused many more to walk in to hear the ballad which Leon was performing. The ballad lasted five minutes and afterwards, Leon played the final note. As soon as he did, the entire bar broke out into a rowdy cheer, asking for an encore. ---- As the Redbeard Pirates, dispersed to do their own bidding, Feanor was unsure of what to do, as he wanted to spend some more time with the now turtle sized Daikame. It was then he remembered the words of his friend and mentor. The Elf, immediately began searching for a small map from within his belongings. Saying Goodbye to Daikame, Feanor made his way through the beautiful island, amidst the several marines that were on guard. Being a spy, and having the capability to hide his own presence among the crowd, Feanor managed to somehow reach the heart of the island. However, it wasn't his destination,as he made some cuts and bolts in the dark alleys to reach his target, the "Bar Kana". For all you know, "Bar Kana", was one of the bars that served the best among the rich. Despite the big chunk of the customers being neglected, they provided the best service for their name. For a Bar of such stature, Kana had a big associate. The regular clientele of the Kana, were also a big part of their Underworld trade. This happened at the "Death Battles" organized by the Owners to add extra ingredient to their drinks. Currently one was going on and Feanor was aiming for that. As he entered the dark indoor stadium. The Champion of the Arena, "Dog Tail" Kent stood at the center, filled with blood of his 39 victims of the day, waiting for his challengers. Low, knowing the stakes of his identity being discovered, had adorned a Maroon mask and dying his hair blue, faking a identity plate given to him by Taiga. Walking his way to the arena, the masked visitor brought the attention of everyone gathered. "My name is "Sovereign Paw", and I challenge the champion, for a 1,000,000,000" Feanor declared, as he put a stack of cash on the organizers desk, as they immediately did their business of counting the profits hidden in the stack. The Announcer made no haste as he made the big announcement. "Sovereign Paw, challenging the Hero of the day, Dog Tail, for the highest bid of the evening, 1,000,000,000. Will Kent get it or let it from his sight. Everyone, the voting polls are open, bet in with your best shot. Who will turn out lucky tonight." The onlookers, immediately roared and started placing their bids. "Ha has, its the champ, no doubt," said some, "But the new lad looks promising," spoke the others. The crowd began shouting, trying to motivate their support and demotivate the other. Feanor who didn't bother about his surrounding atmosphere, felt a chill down his spine as he rested his nervous face inside the brave maroon mask. According to the rules, he had to surrender to the organizers all his weapons, while the Champion of the Arena could wield a signature weapon of choice, in the current case, "Dog Tail" Kent wielded a giant Mace. The Champion ready to face his new challenger, laughed his signature "Beymememememe". Amid the cheers and boos, Feanor got ready to face his first opponent, standing in a weird fighting style, full of holes that didn't match any known form of combat. The ringing bell, symbolized, the start of another Death Match in the underworld. Parting from the rest of the crew, Redbeard and Kiyoshi wandered around the sinking fortress amused by the unique architecture. Usually, Redbeard enjoyed the fresh ocean breeze and enjoyed the sitting his feet in the water, especially when he's miniature size. But today, he was quite hesitant regarding the manner. While he attempted to mask his cautiousness, Kiyoshi easily detected his less aggressive nature. "Just because you ate one doesn't mean the water is gonna bite-desu" Kiyoshi snickered. "If you really miss swimming why did you eat in the first place." Redbeard refusing to respond to the dwarf, quickly changed the subject. "There it is..." he stated, before walking to the side of a building where he then pointed to a board of wanted posters. Gazing at the dwarf Redbeard commented, "Go check if you see our posters up there, I need to see if my bounty is at the point it should" Unamused by Redbeard's somewhat childish interests in bounties, Kiyoshi made his way to the wall of shame in search of each member's bounty. As Redbeard waited for his crew's shipwright, a pleasant sound echoed into his ear. "Where is that coming from?" he mumbled to himself, before following the sound, leaving Kiyoshi. While Redbeard was unaware of this, the music was coming from a tavern about two miles away and he was subconsciously accessing his heightened haki capabilities. Once again left on her own, Marié decided to use this opportunity to get some shopping done as well as to gather some information about the recent movements of the world, Humming to her self Marié casually strolls past a group of Marine's while discretely ordering one of her numerous employee's that followed her to keep and eye on their movement. Using his abilities to follow the sound of the pleasant tunes, Redbeard eventually made his way to the tavern. Standing firm in the back, he watched as the red-haired musician blessed the audience with his skillful touch. "A musician..." Redbeard thought, remembering the celebration in Outcast Island being dull due to the music. As if he were in a trans cause by the musician, Redbeard remained still, blocking the entrance of the bar. As pools of people wished to enter to see which renowned artist was playing, the crowd outside grew angry at Redbeard. One of the men who waited for his partner inside walked up to the shrunken titan, with his fist clenched. "You better move out the way you big oaf, or I'll have to move you myself." the man said, not initiated by Redbeard's still rather large stature. With Redbeard unresponsive, the man lived up to his threat and proceeded to punch Redbeard in the gut. To the man's surprise, Redbeard remained unphased. Suddenly more people appeared in front of the titan, angry at him for disturbing the show. Then one man woman with a bounty in her hand yelled, "Oh My God, it's him....the one who declared war against the World, Redbeard!" At that moment, Redbeard woke up from his trans, though not to confront the people who were afraid of infamy but to walk to the front of the bar in order to meet the musician. Making his way to the stage, Redbeard exclaimed, "Young man who has blessed me with pleasant tunes, what is your name?" Back at the wall of posters, Kiyoshi had finally recovered the bounties of all the members. "Wow, in total, we're worth about..." he stopped suddenly realizing his captain was no longer there. "That bastard-desu..." "Me? Name's Leon Aux. I recognise you, Redbeard. Big fan." Leon said, grinning. The red-head stood from his seat, holding his violin in a somewhat awkward handling. As he stood, a group of marines stormed into the bar, the squad fuming with anger. "Attention! Frederick Barbarossa, you are under arrest. As accordance to Chapter 18, Sub-chapter 2, we will bring you in...dead! Fire!" the leader yelled. Instantly, one of the men lifted his pistol towards the giant, firing the bullet. In Leon's mind, things had begun to slow down, as Leon's violin transformed into its true form. As the bullet approached, Leon fired an arrow into the bullet, colliding. A moment of confusion spread across the marines' face as they saw Leon holding his bow. "Calm down. Man's done nothing noticeably illegal." Leon began, taking a step forward. "Are you ready...Redbeard?" The musician had now really peaked Redbeard's interest. "So he's a fighter as well...Call me crazy but I think I just found our crew's musician." Redbeard thought as a huge grin emerged on his face. Using his sensory haki, Redbeard located each of his crew members on the island, as well as the Marine who would now be searching for them. One marines stood out from the rest probably a vice-admiral in rank. While he was not currently at the bar, it would only a few minute before he would be. "Alright hot stuff, show what you can do." Redbeard responded, deciding to take the backseat in this little confrontation in order to see what the musician could do. ---- As the Marines rampaged the tavern, Feanor emerged victorious battle after battle, gaining more fans and cash prizes every minute. His luck ran out as Marines launched an attack at the place. Surprised at the attack, people fled the arena as a huge commotion caused the organizers to hide themselves. Feanor, surprised, was brought back to reality by a Feline Mink who caught hold of him and ran through an open space, he had prepared beforehand. Fleeing from the spot, Feanor gathered the strength to ask Taiga the question. "Marines what were they doing there ? How did they know ? Let me guess, your doing ?" he asked. Taiga smiled, "Your friend is in trouble in town, I needed to decrease the Marines forces looking for him. Looks like all might be well for your friend, though, nothing to worry about. However, I did have an proposition to make." the Mink replied, as he opened a chest he had with him. "An offer you won't, no, something which I won't allow you to refuse. FEANOR." ---- Leon simply grinned. "You're in for a show, Redbeard." he said as he suddenly appeared behind one of the guards. Quickly grabbing a nearby chair, Leon lifted it before slamming it down onto the mans head. As soon as the chair made contact, it broke, sending splinters everywhere as well as the man collapsing to the ground. Leon jumped back, before his arrow flew into his hands. As a few more men approached him, Leon nocked the arrow before letting it fly. As the arrow was in the air, Leon used the Hindo in the surrounding area to duplicate the arrows, having ten men be pierced by the arrows. As the arrows landed, they all fused back into one, and that same arrow flew into Leon's hands. "Who's next?" he asked, tauntingly. ---- Nearing the center of the bar district was Spike, carrying a large keg under his arm. "Man! Whoever came up with these Water-Water Kegs™ is a genius. Not only are they huge, but a lot of the bars here will refill them for a really low price!" exclaimed Spike, raising the mouth of the large keg to his own mouth. After a few glugs the golden stream of liquid coming from the keg stopped, causing Spike to shake the keg a bit. With an unsatisfied look on his face, he began looking around for somewhere to refill his keg. He spotted the nearest bar and walked in at a fast pace. Plopping down on the stools at the bar, Spike slammed the keg on the counter, grabbing the attention of the barkeep and a few of the still lucid customers. "You guys fill these up here, right?" Spike asked the bartender before him. "Why we sure do! Most all bars here in Water 7 do," responded the bartender. But before the bartender could even pick up the keg off the counter, a group of marines kicked down the door and entered the front of the bar, aiming the guns at the bar. "Demon King Spike, former bounty hunter and Underworld Mercenary and current crew member of the unruly Redbeard Pirates, you are under arrest!" said a marine who had a suit under his coat. Spike could tell he was more important than the other grunts. The barkeep, who was now hiding under the bar, turned to the wall behind him and saw a wanted poster with the exact name the marine had just said. Not only that, but the same face as the man sitting before him. "Come quietly now, resist and we will use force," continued the important marine. Spike just kept sitting down at the bar, his back to the marines. "I will take your lack of action and silence as resistance, FIRE!" The marines all fired their guns at Spike. In a split second he half-turned and with all the bullets were deflected in different directions, some hitting the marines. Spike turned his head so the marines could only see his uncovered eye. "Beat it," he said releasing what seemed to be a projection of his blood lust at the marines. The marines all began to scramble out of the bar while the important one desperately yelled: "REINFORCEMENTS, WE NEED REINFORCEMENTS!" into a baby transponder snail. After they had all cleared out, he faced the bartender and asked: "So are you gonna fill my keg, or what?" ---- "No!" Loki continued. "I can't allow to have your fill of blood lust by shooting up this bar!" "Blood lust?" Araika replied looking very much confused. He let the comment slide and then pointEd his pistol at the man. "I hope none of you have objections with me shooting him?" The crowd in the bar shook their heads as they stared at the scene. They had no idea what Araika was capable of with his angry aura, and when mixed with Loki's unpredictable nature. Lord knows what would happen. "Well my friend," Loki said. "It seems that we have a good old fashioned sta-" Before the orange haired man could finish his statement. A shot rang out and the bullet sank into his stomach. A flock of screams rang through the air and Araika smiled as he placed his pistol on his waist. Araika watched as Loki stood there motionless. '"Any moment now and the drunken fool will fall down dead,'' the man thought to himself. Any second now. Loki didn't fall. "It's just like the great pirate Whitebeard!" Someone in the bar shouted. "He must've died on his feet!" ''Yeah, that must be it, Araika thought to himself. "But you shouldn'the compare a fool like him to the great White-." "I'm not dead," Loki replied calmly as he took a deep breath. The crowd gasped in amazement and Araika pulled out his gun again. "He's back from the dead!" a woman shouted. "I was never dead!" Loki yelled, clearly frustrated. "Then why we're you silent?" Another person spoke, a man this time. Loki rested his chin on his fingers in thought. "I was wondering why i've been wearing the same clothes for the past few weeks," he replied calmly. The whole crowd face faulted, apart from Araika who just looked even more mad. "Why won't you just die!" Araika said in frustration. He wrapped his finger around the trigger, ready to shoot again. Loki put up a finger in front of him, as if to shush the angry assailant. He then something out at a high velocity. The small object hit Araika's pistol, causing him to drop the gun and grab his hand. The latter looked around wildly before looking at a wall where the bullet had sunk into. "He spat the bullet right back out!" A man shouted. "ThIs man is a Demon!" Another person shouted. "Or a Devil Fruit Eater," Araika suggested. "Gives a whole new definition to spitting rounds. Doesnt't it?" Loki joked with a grin. With Water 7 slowly being invaded with more and more Marines and other World Government Officials, it was about time Redbeard began his preparations to vacate the island. With the musician handling the Marines for the moment, Redbeard located his crew through his mind's eye. Upon locating each and everyone of them, Redbeard gazed at the musician, who was putting on quite the spectacle. "I'm going to need you to jump." Redbeard told Aux, hoping that he'd obliged. Once he did, Redbeard released a surge of electricity, temporarily immobilizing the remaining Marines who were at the bar. "Dock Two if you're interested." he said, to the only man left standing other than himself, before vanishing with the sounds of static left behind. After a few moments, Redbeard reappeared at the determined center based on all the locations of the other members. "Let's see if they remember." he thought before a literal bolt of lighting emerged in his palm. With arrow in his right hand he twisted his torso and raised his left leg before launching it into the sky. A certain flashback came to mind upon doing so: "If we're ever separated and unable to contact each other, I will send a signal large enough to grasp everyone's attention in a huge radius. It'll mean return to base.". Not only did he hope that it would grasp each of the member's attention, but also that of the Marines. He wanted to be the distraction so that he crewmates could get out more efficiently. Fortunately, it did work. Marines began to flood in, surrounding Barbarossa. "I think you picked the wrong day to challenge me." Kiyoshi, who was a couple miles away, noticed Redbeard's technique pierce the sky. "I'm guessing that's the signal-desu." he spat, before shrinking into regular size, and dashing back to the ship. "Hmmmmm, this is getting rather boring" The ever calculating Godfrey thought to himself, be he stuck his right arm in-front of his being and using the power of his Devil Fruit formed a cloud in-front of him that was dense enough for him to stand on. He than used to cloud to quickly transport himself to the cause of the lightning bolt, staying air born as to stay out of harms way for now. He had quickly deduced that the bolt was a signal of some sort, seeings as it had no target, before taking note of the giant who had launched it. He waited in the air until what he had assumed to be the rest of the Giants crew would be arriving. The sunlight danced on the golden spheres that it shined on. The eyes themselves gazed across the view of dozens of home sand other buildings. In an mere moment, a lightning bolt fired into the sky. "Hmm.. A warning of some sort? Perhaps a battle?" He had concluded that it could have been angry pirates fighting at a bar much like an event that he was previously involved in. Then using his Kenbunshoku Haki, he could see the men within the building. A cluster of marines. Without much more thought, he grabbed his sniper and aimed from tall building's balcony where he was. His lady friend had fell asleep after their talk and he'd rather not wake her. Have they found me?..Of course not..I've been doing this for a while now. Perhaps they were using the Bar Kana to gain intel on him. He could not be certain. But then he could see it. The marines had someone surrounded. The man's redbeard and height was a dead give away. Redbeard.... Why should Magyaku help him? He'd never met the man yet his reputation was not lowly in any form. The brown skinned man had heard of the giant's exile and felt a bit of sympathy for him. An object similar to a cabinet blocked a window which prevented Magyaku from being able to see through it using his scope. He removed the magazine and tapped the line of ammunition that lie inside. An unnatural chill coursed through the steel objects like electricity in a circuit. Using his Observation Haki, he could see that two marine were on the other side. He placed his hand on the bolt of the sniper and yanked back. He smiled as he heard the bullet enter the chamber. Then with one more glance, his left hand's pointer finger pulled the trigger and then leaped from the building, then propelling himself with the force of his flames expelling from his hands. Gravity sucked the bullet downward from Magykau's towering shelter and through the wooden furniture with comical ease. The bullet ripped through the skull of intended target one leaving a gaping fissure. Coming out of the other side of the head no trace of it remained yet the body that left was now frozen solid. The bullet was not yet done. The impact of the bullet had changed it's trajectory slightly and it penetrated the adam's apple of intended target two and it lost momentum after leaving it. Magyaku had only then been falling above the building. He pulled back his right hand and just before he collided with the roof, he punched with a enhanced fist and he broke through it. He landed upright on his feet. "I'm Magyaku." He said, not looking at the giant at all. ---- As soon as Leon had finished speaking, the rest of the men foolishly charged at him. Using his Cyborg Enhancements, he incapacitated the incoming men. He looked around, searching for Redbeard, but to no avail. "Giant must have escaped..." he muttered before making his way out of the bar, and looking up at the sky. He saw a strange beam in the air, and the loud echo of a bullet being shot. That bullet...Stuff's going down. Leon realized. He turned towards the bar, quickly scaling the large building before arriving on the roof. He began to jump from roof to roof, using echolocation to determine whether an incoming individual was coming his way. Leon made his way over to the dock, and hid, waiting for the next event to occur. ---- A few marines on yagaras and running alongside the canals within eye's distance of the dock everyone was meeting at seemed to be chasing some nonexistent object. Despite this appearance, upon closer inspection they seemed to be pointing their attention at the water itself. Before anyone could figure it out themselves, a bulky figure emerged from the water. "Uchimizu Frog Machine Gun!" the figure seemed to yell as a flurry of high speed droplets of water took out many of the marines in the water and those on land. The figure then disappeared back into the water. As the sheer number of marines around the gathered Redbeard Pirates, who were sitting ducks waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive, seemed to push them back, backup was soon to arrive. The same bulky figure from before leaped out of the canal and did a few front flips before landing next to the red-headed giant. The mysterious figure was none other than Spike, though the reason he looked so weird was because of the two barrels tied to his back and chest and the four kegs he carried under his arms. "Sorry I'm late captain, I was busy getting all this booze for the journey ahead," said Spike as he threw the barrels and kegs into the boat and prepared to fight, all the while receiving confused looks and comments from the marines and new crew members. Arriving at the current location that the crew was situated Marié could help but chuckle "There Never seem to be a Dull moment with you is there, Darling" ?, She questioned as she makes her way over to her crew while carrying numerious large bags and being followed by a tall, muscular middle-aged man with extremely short black hair and what appears to be a receding hairline, which exposes his very prominent forehead, upon which he has a small tattoo of a skull and noticeably lacks eyebrows, and has very small eyes with prominent dark circles; His nose is also considerably prominent, and his jaw is long and pronounced, offering much space between his chin and small mouth and also has high, shallow cheekbones, and features distinct five o'clock shadow. His attire wears Consists of black pants And a pair of black gloves, which feature oval designs on the knuckles, to go along with his black shoes. Araika looked at Loki in fury. "How dare you make a fool of me!" he thundered as he reached to his right an pulled out a sword. Loki's eyes popped out of his skull in a freakish fashion as the asailant charged towards him. "You don't need me to do that!" he exlcaimed as he dodged to the right and landed in a barrel. "La-la, La-la, La, La-La-La-La!" Loki sung as Araika approached the barrel. The man swung downards in fury, chopping the barrel in half and emptying it's contents. Loki wasn't in there. "La-La, La-La, La-La, La!" Loki continued to sing as he popped his head out of another nearby barrel. "You little!" Araika shouted as Loki brung his head downwards. Araika slashed again, cutting the barrel in half. He let loose a furious grunt as he realised Loki wasn't in that one either. "La-La, La-La, La, La-La-La-La!" Loki sung again. His voice could be heard coming from another barrel, near the entrance to the bar this time. Araika whsipered for everyone to keep the noise down as he slowly approached the barrel with his sword in hand. He looked into the barrel, ready to stab it. "Pop goes Amico!" Loki shouted as he sprung up from the barrel, letting loose a viscous uppercut that connected with Araika's jaw and sent the man flying into the roof of the bar head first. "That's what you get!" Loki announced while tutting loudly. There was a barrage of footsteps outside of the door and suddenly it burst open. A group of marines stormed into the bar and scanned the room. "We're here about a complaint that there was someone causing a ruckus in here!" one of the marines shouted. Everyone in the room pointed at Loki who looked at the marines nervously. He then pointed at Araika - who's head was stuck in the ceiling - and replied. "He did it!" The marines looked up at the roof and then down back at Loki who was already out of the window and running down the street. "Get him!" The marines shouted in unison as they chased him down the street. The Marines rushing about where in for a shock, as Taiga stood on their tracks. Many Marines shooting the Cat, but in vain, as he disabled their metals via his cursed powers. "You Stinky Mink, have joined them haven't you ?" angrily spoke one of the Marines. "Oh that reminds me," Taiga spoke, "Tell this to your superiors, my friends in the Navy, a Cat does what he wants to do-nya." saying that he immediately reached the place where the RedBeard Pirates docked. Looking at the enhanced crew made Taiga laugh. Making his way to towards RedBeard, he said "'' You don't need to preplan any signals, Mr. Barbaroza, because I know exactly what you are planning. Your Spy is with me, because of a certain incident, he is out of commission for a while, don't worry, I will send him out to you, once you reach a safe island away from here.'' Elsewhere , Feanor Low, bathed in Blood, layed on the ground covered in bits and pieces of coloured paper. Trying to recover his ground despite the breathlessness, he shouted , "This . A mob of pirates, sat nearby, mocking his current state. With known and unknown allies flooding in, Redbeard was happy to see his signal had actually worked. Despite being a pirate now, he was a general in his home country for quite sometime, so war tactics are something he was rather fond of. Greeting both Marie and Spike, he was surprised to see his favorite feline mink. Upon hearing his explanation about his crew's Magician, he responded. "I swear, if you're just going to keep showing up like this, you should just join the crew Taiga." he snickered. As the two discussed Low's whereabouts, several marine marksmen aimed directly at the downsized giant. As they pulled the trigger, the bullets pierced right through the giant. Usually, Redbeard would simply take the gunfire, as they would have no affect on him any way, but interested in mastering his new skills, he would utilize his fruit's heavily praised power intangibility allowing the bullets to simply pass right through him and hit the Marine behind him instead. "Shit, there's no way." "A man of his size, is a logia type..." The marines whispered in fear amongst each other as they were aware that this was not the titan's usual size and the possibility of him having a logia devil fruit, an invincible one no less, was truly frightening. "Okay, everyone is accounted for accept for..." At that moment, the crew's notorious dwarf arrived, navigating through the fray between the feet of his enemies. Eventually reaching the shoulder of his captain, Kiyoshi yelled, "How dare you just leave me-desu. You don't just ask me to do something and then walkaway without giving me a holler-desu!" "Alright Alright, I get it." Redbeard responded, soothing his ear with his index finger due to the dwarf's unnaturally loud voice. Turning towards the direction of the ship, Redbeard exclaimed, "Alright team, let's roll out". Suddenly, a navy shipped arrived and pointed its cannon at the crew's temporary ship. "Fire!" a Marine captain chanted, completely destroying the crew's method of escape. "Well shit, wasn't Sarutobi on that ship..." he thought to himself, searching through the remains with his mind's eye to detect whether his own son had fallen victim to the sea. Fortunately, the ape-like creature was not there but where his location was completely unknown to his father. "Daikame probably took him upon detecting danger." he thought before returning his mind to the battlefield. "I guess we're going to have to fight them...unless one of you dimwits has a bright idea to get us out of here." Redbeard spat, directing his question to all his allies in the area. While defeating the Marines was something that was within the crew's skillset, Redbeard preferred to retreat for now, as his intentions we're not to increase their infamy at the moment. Looking around and like Redbeard already knew that fighting the Marines was something the crew was more than capable of she would prefer to avoid causing to much of a commotion right now as it would dampen her plans "Darling If I may" Stated Marié as she turned towards Her beloved Captain. "Why Don't we use one of Sea Trains to escape and avoid direct confrontation for the moment ?" Questioned Marié as she pitched her idea. He hadn't said much after him assisting the giant. After the navy ship destroyed he and his new allies means of escape, he became agitated. Forming a ball of fire into his left hand, he launched it from his palm and it took flight. The flame erupted into a large blaze after coming into contact with the cannon. The shooter fell to the ground of his ship and began to roll to attempt to snuff the flame. Magyaku chuckled as several marines ran to him and attempted to save their comrade. He turned his attention to that of the lady to listen. Right after her statement he turned his attention to Redbeard. His left arm hung at his side with his right hand holding it just at the elbow for a form of support. "I agree with her. I believe we could defeat them in battle but this isn't the best circumstance for my abilities to be put to use." He said, his eyes staring into those of the crew's leader and using his left hand to motion back at the city. A confused look emerged on Redbeard's face as he had never even heard of the concept. "Sea train" he thought, as he attempted to imagine the construct in his mind. Despite living for over a century, the titan has never had the chance to see one due to his incredible size. While he was unfamiliar with the concept, he was more than willing to try it. "If you think that's a viable option, let's do it!" Kiyoshi, who was more knowledgeable than Redbeard on the Sea Trains, but quite obvious himself, thought "Sea trains, I wonder how fast it'll go" "Lead the way!" Redbeard exclaimed Seeing as no one else wanted to take charge and Lead Marié decided to be the Leader "If you'd all follow me, I believe I know just the way to a Sea Train, It's thorough one of the many hidden passageways used by the Top Members of the Underworld" Stated Marié as she walks off towards one of the many alleyways surrounding their Location. As the crew and their new allies followed Marie to the sea trains, the Redbeard titan released a surge of dominating will targeted all the Marines throughout the island. Using that chance to escape, the group exited swiftly. Two members would not join the group; Low and Aux. While Redbeard was informed of Low's absence, Aux came as somewhat of a surprise. The Titan was confident he had found the crew's musician but was clearly mistaken. And to top it off, a drunk managed to follow them, without even being detected. Those who were on the train were headed towards , a territory of the notorious Fire Rocker Pirates, but this fact was unknown to the crew. A fierce battle awaited the crew, as they were walking right into the flames. Caught in the Flames On St. Poplar, miles away from the current location of the Redbeard Pirates, in a dark room full of mysterious shadow figures. A man stood up knocking his chair to the ground and shattering it to pieces. "It seems some lost lambs have wandered in the fire." The man said with anticipation. "What nerve. No pirate would dare set foot in our domain. We'll have to show them why." A small figure said leaning on his knee with one arm while sitting on his chair. "The 'king' has given us permission to kill this time." Another one spoke out. "But if we kill them quickly there won't be any fun for us when we're done." Another one spoke. "ENOUGH! JUST HURRY UP AND GET HERE LITTLE LAMBS! Hehehehehe HAHAHAHAHAHA! I'M THRISTY FOR THE TASTE OF BLOOD! HAHAHAHAHAHA" The first figure said, his laugh echoing off the island. ---- The Sea Train dashed through the blue at incredible speeds. The conductor, an awful drunk who probably should not be monitoring the massive transport, made an announcement. "We shall be arriving at,hiccup, our destination in a few minutes, hoped y'all had a great ride. Ride with ." As the conductor made her announcement, Kiyoshi was worried for his titanic friend, Daikame. As the shrunken beast was on the ship during the Marine's attack, he could have possibly been harm. Sarutobi also came to mind, as Kiyoshi glimpsed over at Redbeard who was lost in thought. "It seems we've peaked the interest of the Marines. For them to send a Vice-Admiral to our location just on some speculation, I wonder how high our bounties are?" he thought to himself, completely forgetting he had Kiyoshi retrieve the bounties during their time in Water 7. "Our bounties might increase again after that small confrontation. It's almost time I contact ." Snapping back into reality, Redbeard made his own announcement. "I've never heard of this Island, does anyone have any information on it." "Urgh..." Leon muttered as he began to stand. Where am I? he thought to himself as he examined his surroundings. Sea Train? he thought to himself as he began to gain an understanding of his surroundings. He released a small sound wave, using it to echolocate. He noticed that a few train cars down, was Redbeard...and a few others. Leon made his way through the cars, using his ability to pseudo-teleport to arrive on the same train car as Redbeard. "Hello there. Sorry I'm late." Magyaku had dozed off in one of the booths. As he opened his eyes, he heard voices. One voice was more familiar than all of them. Magyaku's body from the lower thigh up was hidden from view. Leon. He leaned up to reveal himself and he was faintly surprised. "Leon? I cant seem to get away from you, can I?" He chuckled. He looked at redbeard. "Where are we Red?" He said dazed. He grabbed a guitar case that someone left and placed his rifle inside of it and shut it. He wasn't a musician so it wouldn't fit his look. "Mind carrying this, Leon?" He asked, holding it out. After taking a huge swig from one of the larger barrels he brought with him and placing it next to the four smaller, empty kegs, Spike wiped his mouth and said: "I think one of the guys at the bar mentioned Poplars. He said it was some small island with a bunch of trees, making it pretty important to Water 7 since they have to import all the wood for their shipbuilding industry." After his informative speech, Spike picked up his barrel again and began chugging it down. "You again?" Leon said, chuckling. He took the guitar case and slung it over his other shoulder. "Cause I'm the musician? Makes enough sense." he muttered. He looked over at Redbeard, examining the large man. It was at that moment Leon decided. No matter what the Giant would say, Leon knew he would dedicate his life to serving the man as a member of his crew. Leon unslung his violin case and took a seat, and pulled out his violin. "Y'all wanna hear a song?" Leon asked. Before anyone could respond, he began to play a mystical sonata. Sitting a bit away from everyone else Marié could be seen looking Lazily out a window while holding a class of wine, If one were to look closely at her eyes they can see that while she appears bored her mind was working obvertime. "Darling" Called Marié without looking over to her Lover. "The Island that we're heading towards St Poplar, Is it not a Claimed Territory ?" Questioned Marié before taking a sip from her glass. Despite all of the people on this train being allies (or at least being acquainted with each other) there was one wild cars that was unaccounted for. The young man from before, Loki, was currently also on the train. However, he was fast asleep inside a barrel that was placed conveniently next to Leon. As the musician started to play his wonderful music, Loki started to slowly rise the barrel in a trance like state. Probably startling anyone nearby since no one saw him get on the train. "Would make sense that a crew would want to claim this island as territory. They could put a tax on that wood you were talking about." he responded, as the musically inclined ally played a wonderful tune in the background. Redbeard then noticed another person, who was not one of their allies in battle. Despite not knowing who the man was, Redbeard could tell that he held no impure intentions. So he gave the idea little thought. "Wouldn't be bad idea to take the island for ourselves, start expanding our control over our own territories." he spat, not expecting a response from the remainder of the crew. After the brief ride, the crew eventually made it to St. Poplar. Redbeard instructed his crew and allies to split up and gather useful info on the island and its rulers. Redbeard himself would prepare for his announcement to declare this nations as a territory of the Redbeard Pirates. ---- After wandering long enough Spike stumbled upon a town on the new island. "Maybe they've got good booze there..." Spike thought to himself, still distraught over finishing his final barrel on the train. Spike walked into a half full tavern and sat at the bar. "Your finest ale please." Spike announced to the bartender as he slammed some money on the bar. "Coming right up!" responded the bartender. The bartender poured some liquid into a cup and slid it down the bar back to where Spike was sitting. After taking a swig of the drink Spike remembered his true objective on the island. "So what's the deal with this island, you guys aren't really on the radar," Spike asked the bartender. "Ah a tourist, welcome to our fine island. Don't know if you've heard but we're an island with many Poplar trees. The wood we chop is sold to the shipwrights over in Water 7." responded the barkeep. "I knew that stuff, I wanna know who's in charge here," demanded Spike in a mild manner after taking another swig. "Well, we do have a government of sorts, but we have been claimed by a pirate crew..." the bartender trailed off. "Oh?" said Spike: "Now you're talking, and while you're at it fill this up please," said Spike as he passed the bartender his empty mug. "A crew called the Fire Rocker Pirates, they give us protection from other pirates and those who do us harm in return for a tax on our wood. Their known for being very ruthless, having sailed the Grand Line and even the New World, but they aren't particularly oppressive to us," explained the bartender. Glug, glug, glug was the sound that Spike made while chugging the mug of ale down. With a slam of the cup, Spike reached a into his pocket and took out what money he had left. "Thanks," he said, "And fill up a barrel with that ale, that stuff is great!" The bartender walked away and came back with a full barrel. As Spike walked off with the barrel he thought to himself: "I'd better get back to the Big Guy, this could get dicey if a pirate crew like that is here. I trust him and the dwarf, but I only trust the rest of the crew as far as I can throw them." Trivia Category:Roleplay Category:Redbeard Pirates